Trump urges Arab unity in call to Saudi Arabia's King Salman

US President Donald Trump has called the king of Saudi Arabia to urge Gulf unity amid an escalating dispute over Qatar's alleged support for militants

Trump wrote on Twitter that his recent trip to the Middle East was
Trump wrote on Twitter that his recent trip to the Middle East was "already paying off"

The US said it will seek to defuse a growing rift between its energy-rich Gulf allies after Saudi Arabia led a drive to isolate Qatar by cutting off air and sea transport and closing the tiny nation’s only land border.

President Donald Trump wants to “de-escalate” the crisis and is committed to holding talks with all parties, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters Monday.

“The President is committed to continuing to have conversations with all of the people involved in that process, with all of those countries,” said Sanders. 

“We want to continue to de-escalate that.  And at this point, we're continuing to work with each of those partners.”

Key Gulf states including UAE, Egypt and Bahrain, led by Saudi Arabia, abruptly severed relations with Qatar on Monday, suspending flights and sea travel to Qatar, escalating a week-old row and sending Qatari stocks plunging, though there’s been no immediate impact on Gulf energy exports.

Saudi Arabia accused its fellow GCC member of supporting a range of violent groups, from proxies of Shiite Muslim Iran to the Sunni militants of ISIS. Qatar dismissed the charges as baseless, and said the Saudis are seeking to dominate their smaller neighbour.

Earlier, Trump said the Saudis' move to isolate Qatar could mark the "beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism".

In a series of posts on Twitter on Tuesday, Trump referenced Qatar when he said leaders of the Middle East have stated that they "would take a hard line on funding extremism".

"During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!" Trump said.

"So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding...

...extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!"

Later, he appeared to take a more measured tone during a call with King Salman. Mr Trump told King Salman that a united Gulf Cooperation Council is “critical to defeating terrorism and promoting regional stability,” according to a White House readout of the conversation.

The council includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait.

The emir of Kuwait is mediating in the dispute and the president of Turkey has also offered to help, saying isolation and sanctions will not resolve the crisis.

"His [Trump's] message was that we need unity in the region to fight extremist ideology and terrorist financing," a US official told Reuters news agency.